The Prospective Mother

The Prospective Mother (A Handbook for
Women During Pregnancy)

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Title: The Prospective Mother A Handbook for Women During Pregnancy
Author: J. Morris Slemons
Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7129] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of
schedule] [This file was first posted on March 13, 2003]
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THE PROSPECTIVE MOTHER
A Handbook for Women During Pregnancy

by
J. MORRIS SLEMONS
Associate Professor of Obstetrics, The Johns Hopkins University.
* * * * *
PREFACE
This book, written for women who have no special knowledge of medicine, aims to
answer the questions which occur to them in the course of pregnancy. Directions for
safeguarding their health have been given in detail, and emphasis has been placed upon
such measures as may serve to prevent serious complications. Treatment of such
conditions has not been discussed, as it can be judiciously carried out only by a physician
who has the opportunity to observe and study the individual patient. Furthermore, if there
is to be notable improvement in the management of cases of childbirth, the appearance of
untoward symptoms should not be awaited before consulting a physician; on the contrary,
prospective mothers must be taught that they should be under competent medical
supervision throughout pregnancy.
At present intelligent women demand some knowledge of the anatomical and
physiological changes incident to the development of the embryo and the birth of the
child. These subjects do not readily lend themselves to popular description, but I have
told the story as simply as possible, following in a general way the text-book of my
teacher and friend, Professor J. Whitridge Williams; indeed, my main purpose has been to
reproduce his book "in words of one syllable." The use of a number of technical words
has been unavoidable, and, though their meaning has been given in the context, it has not
been feasible to repeat the definition every time an unfamiliar term was used. On that
account a glossary has been provided.
It is with pleasure that I avail myself of this opportunity to acknowledge the cheerfully
given assistance of many friends. In particular I wish to thank Doctor Henry M. Hurd,
until recently Superintendent of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, for his interest and advice. I
am also under deep obligation to my friend John C. French, of the English Department of
the Johns Hopkins University, for helpful criticism of the manuscript, and to my
colleagues, Doctors Rupert Norton and Thomas R. Boggs, for valuable assistance. To
many others--doctors, nurses, and patients--I am indebted for numerous suggestions
which have been made either consciously or unconsciously.
J. MORRIS SLEMONS.
* * * * *
INTRODUCTION
In all branches of medicine the master word is _prophylaxis_, or prevention, and its
benefits are nowhere more strikingly illustrated than in the practice of obstetrics. In
former times every woman who gave birth to a child or passed through a miscarriage was
exposed to grave danger of infection or child-bed fever; but at present--thanks to the
recognition of the bacterial origin of the disease and of its identity with wound
infection--this danger can be practically eliminated by the rigid observance of surgical
cleanliness and aseptic technique. Physicians have also learned that the most effective
method of coping with other serious complications of pregnancy and labor is by

preventing their occurrence, or at least by subjecting them to treatment in their earliest
stages; for, if they be allowed to go on to full development, the results are little better
than in times past. Furthermore, a careful examination some weeks before the expected
date of confinement enables us to recognize the existence of abnormal presentations and
of disproportion between the size of the mother's